Monthly Archives: March 2011

ICC Staff Opinion on FDAI

I know there have been a lot of posts this week and hopefully my subscribers aren't getting sick of the email notifications, but I've got a couple of really important things to post so bear with me.  I can take next week off if you're sick of me.  :-)

By |2012-01-27T21:58:11-05:00March 31st, 2011|FDAI|1 Comment

Woodstock, Ontario Apartment Fire

When I lived in a condominium complex in the mid-90's, I don't think I gave much thought to fire safety.  I remember hearing the fire alarm in the middle of the night and going out to my balcony to see if I could smell smoke.  If not, it must be a false alarm.  That seems CRAZY to me now.  Luckily, I lived in a fairly safe building.  The stair doors and the cross-corridor doors were never propped open.  The unit entry doors had spring hinges so they didn't close as reliably as if they'd had closers, but thankfully we never had a fire while I lived there.  Someday when I'm helping my oldest daughter look for her first apartment, you can bet that I won't be as lax about fire safety.  I may just zip her up in a flame resistant jumpsuit before I send her off to college.  :-)

By |2016-05-18T09:24:56-04:00March 29th, 2011|FDAI, Fire Doors|0 Comments

Shatford Centre Follow-Up

Last week I posted photos of some very old Von Duprin exit devices which were originally installed on the entrance doors to the Shatford Centre in Penticton, British Columbia.  I later communicated with the millworker, Plexus Woodworks, who built the new doors, and several people from the Shatford Centre, as well as other blog readers who chimed in with questions and comments.  If you know someone who is knowledgeable about antique hardware, please forward this post to them to see what else we can learn about this hardware.

By |2013-06-02T19:33:20-04:00March 29th, 2011|Panic Hardware|5 Comments

FDAI – New York State

The 2010 Fire Code of New York State requires fire doors to be maintained in accordance with NFPA 80, and references the 2007 edition of that standard (Chapter 45 - Referenced Standards).  The 2007 edition of NFPA 80 requires fire door assemblies to be inspected annually as part of the maintenance requirements, so by referencing NFPA 80-2007 for maintenance of fire doors, an annual inspection of these assemblies is required.

By |2017-05-25T15:40:31-04:00March 28th, 2011|FDAI|0 Comments

FDAI – California

The 2010 California Fire Code requires fire doors to be maintained in accordance with NFPA 80 and smoke doors to be maintained in accordance with NFPA 105.  The code references the 2007 editions of NFPA 80 and NFPA 105 (Chapter 47 - Referenced Standards).  The 2007 editions of these standards require the door assemblies to be inspected annually as part of the maintenance requirements, so by referencing NFPA 80-2007 and NFPA 105-2007 for maintenance of fire doors and smoke doors, an annual inspection of these assemblies is required.

By |2013-05-06T14:00:05-04:00March 28th, 2011|FDAI|5 Comments

“When will fire door inspections be required in my jurisdiction?”

In response to my request for a list of FAQs, my colleague and pal Kurt Roeper sent this suggestion.  It's definitely a frequently asked question, but the tricky part is coming up with the answer.  I'm a big fan of the old adage, "How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time."  That's how I handle all the big tasks I'm faced with, and I think it will work for this one as well.

By |2012-02-14T11:43:24-05:00March 28th, 2011|FDAI|8 Comments

Help Choose the FAQs

I don't ask for much, right?  But I need a little help.  I've been posting on this blog for over 2 years and there are more than 400 posts.  I know it can sometimes be hard to find the specific post or topic you're looking for.  You can search by typing something into the search box, but when I just typed "panic hardware," I got a list of 49 posts that mentioned that term.  You can also go to the index and get a list of all the posts for any given category, but those lists can be pretty long too.  As an example, the Fire Door category currently has 91 posts.

By |2012-01-27T21:58:44-05:00March 27th, 2011|General Info|14 Comments

Evelyn Gardens

I received an article today about a fire at the Evelyn Gardens apartment complex in Albany, California, which resulted in $400,000 in damage and one fatality.  In the article, Fire Chief Marc McGinn is quoted several times in regard to apartment entry doors.  Here's an excerpt:

By |2021-01-05T10:46:21-05:00March 25th, 2011|Fire Doors|14 Comments

Von Duprin at the Shatford Centre

Since we seem to be on an antique doors and hardware run, I thought you'd like to see these oldies but goodies.  They were spotted at the Shatford Centre in Penticton, British Columbia.  The building was recently renovated and the main entrance doors and hardware were replaced, and the process was chronicled in detail on www.shatfordcentre.com (just search for "doors").  I got in touch with the project manager for the renovation to make sure they didn't throw the hardware away, and she said, "we consider these archival pieces of the building’s history and would never throw them out."  She also said that some of the existing panic devices that were not replaced during the renovation are still functioning!

By |2012-01-27T21:58:44-05:00March 24th, 2011|Panic Hardware|6 Comments

Ellis Island

I know some of you will remember "Chip Falcon's Road Trip" from a couple of years ago.  For those of you who weren't readers of this blog back then...I usually go on a road trip with my family every summer.  In the summer of 2009, I had to take a Falcon 25 series panic device on the road trip so I could show it to a specwriter who had moved to South Carolina.  Since I was dragging the panic device (nicknamed Chip Falcon) around, I wrote a series of posts about the various places that we visited on our road trip and wrote about some of the features of the 24/25 series which had just been introduced.

By |2014-11-13T16:52:47-05:00March 21st, 2011|Beautiful Doors, Road Trips, Urban Exploration|13 Comments

Supermoon

For my subscribers on the west coast...check out the rise of the Supermoon tonight!  The rest of you can enjoy the beautiful full moon too, but moonrise in Boston was at 7:16.  It was amazing!  Yes, I do occasionally take photos of something besides doors.

By |2012-01-27T21:58:44-05:00March 19th, 2011|General Info, My Photos|2 Comments

Reader Photos

Holy smokes!  I guess I haven't posted reader photos for a while because I have SO MANY piled up in my e-mailbox.  I have a really busy week and I'll be traveling to Connecticut to do a fire door inspection, so I won't have a lot of time for those wordy, informative posts you all love so much.  :-)  Instead, I'll get my e-mailbox cleaned out and post the photos sent in by blog readers.  I really need to think of a catchy nickname for fans of this blog - like Trekkies (Star Trek fans) and Gleeks (fans of the TV show Glee).  Got any ideas?

By |2012-01-27T21:58:45-05:00March 13th, 2011|Reader Photos|5 Comments

Anti-Ligature Levers

Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the United States, with over 31,000 people taking their life annually.  1,500 suicides occur annually in hospitals (1); it is also the leading cause of death while incarcerated (2). Ligature strangulation (hanging) is the primary means used to end one’s life in these environments.

By |2013-02-09T00:29:36-05:00March 11th, 2011|Locks & Keys|11 Comments

Panic Fail

I tend to notice hardware on TV and movies (just ask my family!), but this video is probably the best (worst) example I've seen of doors gone bad for the sake of TV production.  It was sent in by Eyal Bedrik of Entry Systems Ltd. in Israel.  The commercial is in Hebrew but the panic fail transcends the language barrier.  Watch closely and stick with it for the whole 66 seconds.

By |2012-01-27T21:58:45-05:00March 9th, 2011|Panic Hardware, Videos|8 Comments

The Door Closer Fairy Was Here

I have to admit, I visit the local frozen yogurt joint so often that the owners ask me if I want "the usual."  Hey - it's YOGURT...practically health food!  I wasn't sure how I'd be able to make it through their winter break - about 2 months.  I survived, but the closer on their entrance door didn't.  It lost all of its fluid and started looking for fingers to lop off.

By |2014-11-08T11:19:56-05:00March 7th, 2011|Accessibility, Door Closers|13 Comments
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